Khan

Yep. Like I said, there's a period of about a year (1988-ish to 1989) where AMC was sputtering its' wheels creatively, with many stories that simply weren't clicking. It's truly amazing, therefore, that the Adam/Brooke/Tad/Dixie story took off like it did. Especially in an era of totally off-the-rails stuff like "The Mystery of Cobbler's Island," Marissa Rampal and Bianca's kidnapping. IIRC, once she left AMC, Maggie DePriest was transferred to OLTL, co-HW'ing with Craig Carlson and/or S. Michael Schnessel. Her time there wasn't well-received either -- although, in her defense, OLTL was in such overall, terrible shape by that point and in desperate need of an overhaul. I think so. Or, if not her, then it was Megan McTavish. Either way, I thought the idea (of Erica becoming romantically involved with Phil and Tara's son) was very intriguing, but ruined by the fact that Charles Van Eman was not a great fit with Lucci.

As I understand it, Agnes was always involved with AMC to a certain extent, offering guidance and input. However, as LOVING continued to struggle to gain traction among viewers, she decided her newer creation required more of her attention, thereby leaving Wisner Washam (and later, Washam and Lorraine Broderick) with the actual HW'ing duties. On her own, or w/ Victor Miller as her co-head, Lorraine Broderick wasn't terrible as HW during the late '80's. (Of course, it helped that Broderick had been with the show since, I think, 1979, so she was familiar with it). But, once the AIDS and hit-and-run stories concluded, it seemed like the show hit a creative wall. There's a period of about a year in AMC's history where the stories felt very lackluster and the cast very bloated. That's when Felicia Minei Behr and Maggie DePriest were brought in -- presumably, to give the show a jolt, which it did (IMO) w/ the Adam/Brooke/Tad/Dixie quad.

I know this much (from reading Soap Opera Digest at the time): under her predecessor, Maggie DePriest, AMC had fallen to sixth place in the ratings. So, essentially, then-EP Felicia Minei Behr and the network brought back Agnes -- who, in turn, convinced Wisner Washam to return as associate/breakdown writer -- to bring the ratings back up. You're talking about Kim Delaney, right? Yeah, that's the story I've heard over the years: KD was high on cocaine when she fell off, which prompted then-EP Jacqueline Babbin to basically tell the cast to cool it on the drug use.

Like Marland himself said, in Christopher Schemering's book commemorating GL's 50 anniversary, he knew Roger's death couldn't be anything small, "like a shooting or stabbing." Not after the years of havoc he had wreaked upon so many people's lives. But, more than that, Marland, for all his deficiencies as a writer, knew the importance of structure in storytelling. There was always tremendous build-ups and payoffs in his stories -- payoffs that, in turn, planted seeds for further stories -- so that the viewers were left satisfied at the end.

I know I've said this before, but Joe Biden is PRECISELY the kind of leader we needed at this point in our nation's history. He understands exactly how it feels to lose loved ones to forces beyond anyone's control; and instead of pushing junk science and quack cures on the public, or waving it away as some minor annoyance that'll disappear as soon as the weather changes, he's working as quickly as possible to get out the facts AND the vaccine, so that we can stop more people from dying and resume some measure of our normal lives. No matter what happens from this point forward, he'll always rank among the best in MY book.

The "Lars Bogard is a Nazi" storyline -- that's the infamous storyline where Erica said, "I don't have the right shoes to chase Nazis!". Waymin. Tony Dow once auditioned for a role? Tony Dow? As in "Wally Cleaver" Tony Dow?

Meghan McCain has got to stop pandering to the urban demographic.

Trevor's death on AMC, which is referenced upthread, truly felt like someone BTS had an axe to grind, either with the character, or with James Kiberd, or both.

Next thing you know, Ron will write him into the show as some anchorman covering the events in Salem, like when he wrote in Wendy Williams as that obnoxious Phyllis Rose (or whatever her name was) on OLTL.

I should've known he was a news anchor. I mean he LOOKS like a news anchor.

She was gonna join the show as C.J.

Who IS that guy?

Jump SHRIMP? Who are you? Bubba from "Forrest Gump"?

Great. Now there'll be yet another vanity project from the Kartrashians -- this one, all about how Kim copes with "Life After KanYe."

Exactly. The O.J. trial didn't erode the audiences for soaps; how the networks responded did. If they had simply rode it out, I think the numbers would've bounced back. Maybe not to the same levels they were at BEFORE the trial, but close.

Agree. I don't love dogs, or ANY animals, and even *I* thought what Cruz did to Snowflake was beyond the pale. Just as I think Greg Kelly is a jackass for picking on a defenseless, 12-year-old German Shepherd. I hope karma lifts its' leg and takes a ginormous piss on them both.

Again, this all could have been avoided had they elected more responsible people into office.

Shut up.

Honestly, I would have had more respect for him if he had stayed true to his "Scooby-Doo" villain roots and said, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids and your cameraphones!". True, it would've been an equally bastard-y thing to tell the public. But it would've been honest. Because, if you're gonna do something that'll look bad in the eyes of the public, you might as well invite your friends to join in!

Moral: Whenever you find yourself backed into a corner, blame your kids. And I...would have to agree. I don't like to see anyone suffer under any circumstances, but even as I applaud Beto O'Rourke and others for reaching out and providing badly needed resources like blankets during this crisis, at the same time, I'm also "I told you so"-ing Texans who elected idiots Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott into office. The polar vortex was not of their making, but Texas' abysmal reaction to the crisis largely was.

Exactly. JLB might not have been the original Laura, but Laura was (and is) integral to DAYS' history. The Laura/Bill/Mickey triangle was so huge BITD, it even got a shout-out on "Sanford & Son," lol! Even if it's still DAYS, where no one stays dead, Laura deserved a much bigger send-off than the one she's getting. I am so [!@#$%^&*] done with this show.

That's assuming the devil would have anything at all to do with him. Ted Cruz should've stayed in Cancun. He wasn't doing any good for his constituents anyway.

I'm sure it was in the script and Cady read it ahead of time, but it still looks as if they sprung the pancakes on her at that moment and she was like, "You bitches."

Let's be honest: some of her AMC returns were troubled, too.